


Some Little Ideas

by snowfan24



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29773410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowfan24/pseuds/snowfan24
Summary: A series of one-shots going off from different points of the show. Will take requests!
Relationships: Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard





	Some Little Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow never drank the potion to forget after waking up all those years ago.

Snow sobbed as they stood together in the woods. "I didn't think we'd be saying goodbye again so soon," she said as her husband grabbed her arm.

"Hey, hey. I know," he reassured her, on the verge of tears himself. "Remember, I will always find you."

The familiar line made her smile as she grabbed his face. "And one day, Emma will find us." She wasn't sure if she was saying it to him or to herself, but she had to believe it was true.

He pulled her close and they kissed for what felt like an eternity, but was not nearly long enough. They finally pulled apart, knowing they didn't have much time before they were found.

Charming took the small blue vial and gave Snow another smile before sipping from it. She watched the curse overtake him, the sudden glassy look in his eyes that she had grown all too familiar with. Finally, he stumbled, having been put back into the coma. She held him as he fell asleep again, taking a moment to just look at him. It would be eighteen years until they saw each other again. She started to cry again and it was then that her hands began to shake. 

"No!" She cried as the bottle fell from her hands and spilled out into the snow. She picked the bottle back up, but it was too late. The potion was gone.

She didn't have much time to ponder her options as a voice called out to her. "Mary Margaret! You found him," Archie yelled. "Is he alright?"

Snow shook off her surprise, noting Regina in the crowd. "Yeah. He was just sleepwalking," she answered.

...

It didn't take long to get John Doe back to the hospital. Snow didn't stay around while they ran tests on him, as much as she wanted to. She had to find Rumple and get more of that potion.

She made her way down Main Street to the pawn shop and gingerly closed the door behind her. "Hello!" She called as she stepped inside.

Mr. Gold stepped out from the back room and gave her a polite smile. "Miss Blanchard, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He didn't think that she had ever come into his shop before and he was curious what could bring her there.

She looked him over a few times before sighing. "I found my daughter, but I listened to you and I didn't go to her so just give me more of the potion before I have to think about it any longer," she sobbed. She felt a little stupid crying in front of him, but it wasn't like Mary Margaret had anyone to talk to, and certainly not someone who would understand this.

Gold furrowed his brow and leaned against the counter. "I'm sorry, dearie. Are you feeling alright? I don't know what you mean by potion, and I wasn't aware you even had a daughter."

Snow had never been great at spotting a liar, especially when that liar was Rumple, but she didn't know why he would fake being under the curse again, so she was inclined to believe him. After his earlier insistence that she drink the potion, why wouldn't he help her now?

"Oh." She couldn't think of any better words to say as she wiped the tears from her face. "Oh." She said again, trying to process what this meant. "I'm sorry. I just thought... Nevermind. Have a nice day, Mr. Gold."

She walked out of the pawn shop, her mind reeling from what that meant. She was now the only person in town who was awake. Aside from Regina, of course, but Regina had never been in the business of helping Snow.

She went back to her apartment and sat on the bed. She stayed there, looking at all the photos around her, wondering how many of them had really happened. It was a strange feeling, having two sets of memories. As she thought about this, she looked out the window and began to cry again.

...

The past year had been strange, to say the least. Snow had managed to keep Regina from realizing she was awake, but it came at the cost of keeping Mary Margaret's meek persona at all times. She was thankful that her cursed identity had a routine she could easily follow, especially visiting Charming in the hospital every day. She still brought him flowers, but she had started speaking to him, too.

Her other small change in routine was her stop at Granny's for coffee every morning. She had already done that during the curse, but now she took more time to talk with Ruby. Sometimes, she thought she saw little bits of Red peeking out. She loved to see Red's wolf tendencies come out when there was meat on the grill.

One day, while chatting with her old-yet-new friend, Snow noticed someone she had never seen in the diner before. He was well dressed, with a silk vest and well-placed top hat. "Who's that?" She asked.

Ruby looked the man over a bit before answering. "His name's Jefferson. He doesn't really come out much, I think because everyone thinks he's crazy. He lives in that mansion in the woods. Creepy, huh?" Ruby said idly.

"Jefferson. Why does that name sound familiar?" Snow questioned. She thought hard; trying to remember things that happened during the curse wasn't easy. Finally, it came to her. "Isn't he the guy who tried to kidnap that little girl a while ago?"

Ruby was suddenly very interested whenever the conversation turned to gossip. "Shit, I totally forgot about that. Yeah, he is. And that rambling about a curse too. Maybe he really is crazy."

They both stared as he straightened his tie and got up to leave. "Maybe he is," Snow said, trying to keep the distraction out of her voice. "Hey, I gotta go, Ruby. This was a good talk!" She yelled as she ran for the door after him.

"Jefferson!" She called, getting his attention from across the street. He stopped and put his head in his hands when he saw her. She walked closer and he began to speak. "Miss Blanchard," he started. "I know Paige is one of your students, but I didn't mean an-"

She cut him off quickly, not really caring about his excuse. "I remember. Everything. And from your talk of a curse, I'm guessing you do too."

Jefferson stared on in shock before cracking a little smirk. "Well then, shall we discuss this over tea?" He gestured to his car a few feet away.

...

Snow and Jefferson started having weekly brunches just so they could talk. They understood each other well, both being awake and both missing their daughters. 

Snow always looked forward to them, but not nearly as much as she looked forward to her visits to the hospital. She sat next to the bed of her favorite coma patient and held onto his hand. "Charming," she whispered. "It was just Emma's birthday again. She's nineteen now, so we'll be together in nine years." She paused for a moment and just looked at him. "I miss you." She stroked the back of his hand and just stared at his face for a moment, before finally getting up.

She went to finish her rounds, heading to the children's ward. Things never changed in Storybrooke. They hadn't for nineteen years, so seeing the mayor holding a baby was quite a strange sight. Snow gawked for a second, but not long enough to let Regina see. 

She was shocked when Regina stopped to talk to her. Of course, her stepmother did speak to her occasionally, but it was rare that she did so without any yelling or taunting. She remembered bitterly her years as Mary Margaret, when she would let the mayor's words get to her. Snow was able to handle it better, but it was still hurtful.

Today though, Regina seemed almost relieved to see her. "Miss Blanchard!" She said. 

Snow was too taken aback by the baby to think very hard about what was happening. "Who's this?" She asked, a little concerned about where Regina got a child.

Regina shoved the baby into her arms. "Meet Henry. Make yourself useful," she demanded as she turned around to finish her phonecall.

Snow smiled down at him as she turned in little circles. "Henry..." She whispered again. The last time she had held a baby, she was giving little Emma to her husband to be sent away. The memory hit her hard, suddenly so vivid.

She remembered the smile on Regina's face as she told Snow her happy ending was over. The guards had been ordered to kill Emma. What could someone so cruel want with something so innocent, Snow wondered as she held Henry close. She made a vow right then and there to protect that child. 

...

As the years went by, Snow grew more and more curious about Henry. He clearly wasn't part of the curse, since he aged at a normal rate. But more importantly, Regina just raised him. She had no ulterior motives other than just to take care of him. Snow had seen Regina's motherly instincts as a little girl, but the way she loved Henry was on another level.

She had been delighted when Henry reached fifth grade and was put in her class. Partially, because she was happy to have a new student at all - no one moved grades in Storybrooke. But she mostly was just happy to spend time with him. If he was Regina's son, that made him her stepbrother, and Snow had always valued family above anything else.

Of course, she paid him special attention. She knew it was unfair, but she just couldn't help herself. It didn't help that he was clearly depressed and she wanted to cheer him up somehow.

One morning, she was cleaning her closet and she found the most peculiar thing. A storybook filled with all the lives of everyone in the Enchanted Forest. She flipped through it and her eyes filled with tears as she read about her own life.

"And it was there in the shadow of the Troll Bridge..." She read aloud. No one was listening, but it was impossible to keep her voice down. She clutched the book to her chest and began to sob. She turned to the part of her story where Emma was born and ran her fingers over the pages, just staring at the image of her daughter. She knew Emma would be turning twenty-eight very soon, but Snow was growing impatient. She had never enjoyed waiting; that had been the subject of plenty of teasing from Grumpy. If only he had his memories, she thought as she shoved the book in her bag and headed out to school.

During lunch that day, Snow wasn't surprised to find Henry eating alone. He had trouble making friends, she assumed because he aged and went up a grade every year while they stayed behind. She smiled gently at him for a second, before noticing that he was staring at the homework assignment she had given him. His family tree. Snow had given that paper to everyone in her class, not even thinking how Henry would react. She often wondered what his birth family must have been like, and even how Regina found him in the first place.

"Oh Henry, things really will change if you just believe it," she promised as she sat down next to him. "Life is unpredictable."

He stared ahead for a few moments before answering her. "Is your life unpredictable? 'Cause it seems to me like everything's pretty much the same around here. Except me." She nodded. She had never been sure if he noticed, but it stood to reason that he would.

She was shaken from her thoughts as he went on. "My birth mom didn't love me. Regina says she does, but she doesn't. I- I don't belong here."

Snow thought about his words. Regina did love him, that much she knew. She had seen both both extreme love and extreme hate from Regina, so it was easy to tell. "You do belong here, Henry. You are loved," she assured. He didn't look convinced, so she tried to find another way to cheer him up. The book. Showing him happy endings could change everything.

"I want to show you something," she said as she opened her bag and began to pull it out. "This morning I was cleaning out my bedroom closet, like I've done every week. Thousands of times. And do you know what happened? I found something. Something I've never noticed before." She finally got the book out and placed it in front of him. "It was just there. Like magic."

That's not possible," Henry said, trying to sound unconvinced.

Snow laughed internally, knowing just how wrong that was. "Of course not," she said, opting not to confuse him too much. "But it happened. This book somehow arrived. Was it given to me? Did I forget about it? I don't know! But there it was and do you know what I saw when I looked inside? Hope," she said, thinking again about Emma. 

Henry looked over the pages for a long time, still a little uncertain. "Looks like fairytales to me," he said.

Snow smiled at the boy. "And what exactly do you think fairytales are? They are a reminder that our lives will get better if we just hold on to hope. Your happy ending may not be what you expect," she reminded, knowing that her happy ending had always seemed to involve a castle and her family, "but that is what will make it so special."

Henry glanced up from the book to look in her eyes. "Can... can I borrow this?"

She nodded, already seeing his demeanor change. "You can have it."

He smiled the wide little grin that she had missed seeing. "Really?" He asked.

"Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing. I think you could use it. See you in class," she said as she got up to go check on the other students.

...

"Miss Blanchard?" Henry asked as he walked up to her desk after school. "I have a question."

She smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down. "Of course. What's going on?" She asked.

"It's... about that book you gave me," he said, pulling it from his bag. "You said it just appeared?" When she nodded, he went on. "I know that doesn't seem possible, but I've been thinking. It had to have been magic. I think magic is real," he said quietly.

If Snow was surprised, she didn't show it. She simply cocked he head at him. "Do you now?" She asked. The plan had worked, she made him smile. He believed in happy endings again, and maybe even a little more than that.

"Yeah. And it's..." He opened the book and started flipping for a specific page. He found the page where Snow White and Prince Charming got married and showed it to her. "Doesn't she look so much like you? And the queen... she looks like my mom. At the end of the book, there's a curse that it says brought all the characters to a different land." He took a deep breath and looked at the floor as he spoke. "I think it's real! I think this is the land the curse took everyone to. See, that's why nobody ever changes. It makes so much sense!"

She may not have been surprised at first, but she sure was now. "That's quite the theory you have there," she said, amazed that he figured it out. "You might just be onto something." She wanted to tell him that he was right, but if he mentioned that to Regina, she would know that Snow was awake. She had made it for eighteen years, she wasn't going to let that crumble now.

Henry beamed up at her. "Thank you, Miss Blanchard! I knew you'd believe me."

"Wait, Henry! I didn't say-" she started, bit he had already bounded out of the room.

...

It was finally time. The curse had been cast twenty-eight years ago, and would be breaking soon. She thought of Emma as she sat back down at her desk. Her students had all just gone for recess leaving her alone to daydream about everything changing.

She was pulled from her beautiful little dream when the mayor walked in. "Miss Mills, what are you doing here?" She asked, having had lots of practice being the shy little schoolteacher at this point.

"Where's my son?" Regina demanded by way of greeting. 

Snow paused for a moment, unsure what to say. "Henry. I assumed he was home sick with you," she offered.

"Do you think I'd be here if she was?" The question was more of a statement. Snow noticed someone else in the room, someone she had never seen before. Strangers in Storybrooke were rare; she vaguely remembered a man and his son a long while before then, but couldn't recall any others. Regina continued, "Did you give him your credit card so he could find her?"

Snow looked again at the other woman, thinking she had a pretty good idea where she came from. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked.

The woman crossed her arms and tried to look Snow in the eyes. "I'm h... I'm his-"

Regina interjected, growing impatient. "The woman who gave him up for adoption," she said, confirming Snow's suspicions. She sighed and went to open her purse, curious if he had really stolen her card.

Henry's birth mother finally found her voice. "You don't know anything about this, do you?"

Snow continued rifling through her purse as she answered. "No, unfortunately not. Clever boy," she muttered as she pulled her wallet out and found the empty space. "I'm sorry. Can I did anything to help you find him?" She offered.

"I think you've done enough for one day!" Regina snapped, turning to leave. On her way out, she shoved some books off of a desk, scattering them in the floor. "Have a nice trip back to Boston," she said to Henry's birth mother.

The blonde woman spoke as she helped Snow clean up the books. "Sorry to bother you."

"No, it's ok. I fear this is partially my fault," she said, taking a good look at the stranger. Something about her was familiar. Something in the way she walked. The roundness of her face. Her blue eyes that had a little spark behind them, just like Charming's always had. "I'm, um, Mary Margaret. It's nice to meet you." She finished gathering the books and stuck her hand out.

"Emma. You too," the other woman said, accepting the hand.

Snow stood there for a second, barely breathing. "Emma. Welcome to Storybrooke."


End file.
